I know you want to know what I have learned after all those hours of Food Network

Friday, July 18, 2014

Sloppy Joes

Because we like sloppy joes, and we always have most of the ingredients on hand, I always make them from scratch instead of buying a canned or powdered mix. The origin of my recipe is found here. I don't always measure, as you will be able to see from my eyeballed amounts! I started with these 3 sun scorched peppers from my garden because I can't sell them at the farmers market and an onion. I wish I grew my onion but I am not that cool this year. Maybe next year. Sometimes I use bell peppers, sometimes anaheim or pablano peppers. They are all good!

Chop the onions and peppers up to the size that you like. I generally like to have more pepper than this, but it was still good in the end. (This is making up a double batch because I was also taking dinner to a friend, probably important for you to know!)

I sautee the peppers and onions in a TBLS or 2 of oil. Olive, vegetable, canola, whatever I have that day. I prefer olive oil.

After the peppers and onions start to soften, add the ground beef and brown through. Drain when it is cooked through.

While waiting for the hamburger to cook, you will mix up your sauce. It calls for 3/4 c ketchup, 3 tsp brown sugar, and 1 tsp mustard. I just eyeball it til it looks like I want, obviously my ratios are not the same. Sometimes, when I am feeling spicy, I will even add a tsp or 2 of siracha sauce.

Add the sauce to the drained hamburger mix, stir in completely, and heat through.

Since we are gluten free, we have sloppy joes over baked potatoes or french fries, rather than on buns. Feel free to do whatever you need to do to make this what you want it to be. It is really good and really flexible.